


Pride

by ConcentratedMatter



Category: Rusty Quill Gaming (Podcast)
Genre: Gen, one word prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-03
Updated: 2020-06-03
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:00:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24520471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ConcentratedMatter/pseuds/ConcentratedMatter
Summary: Hamid reflects on his friendship and love for Azu.
Relationships: Hamid Saleh Haroun al-Tahan & Azu
Comments: 2
Kudos: 22





	Pride

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kimabutch (CWoodP)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CWoodP/gifts).



> Charlie and I challenged each other to write something within a set time limit, based on a 2 characters + 1 word prompt.  
> This was written in 30 minutes. 
> 
> The prompt Charlie gave me was: Azu + Hamid - Pride

Hamid knows he loves Azu, knows it in the way his heart glows whenever she squeezes his hand at night, when all he wants to do is reach out and take her pain away. He knows it whenever he hugs her and tries so desperately to wrap his arms all the way around her and provide a place of protection, even though he knows it is a futile effort. He knows it in the way his fiery rage spills forth from the back of his burning throat and reduces those enemies to ash who dare threaten her. 

And love is fear. He knows this too. He knows it in the way his stomach drops during battle, cold sweat glimmering on his skin and heart skipping beats as he sees her take blow after blow for him. Knows it during those nights he stares out in the darkness, holding that same hand and thinking about all the ones whose hands he can no longer hold. Knows it in the tears that slip down his cheeks when he prays the world will not take this from him, too. 

But in the end, love is also pride.

And the thing with pride is, you don’t have to make yourself be part of that narrative. 

He knows pride when he sees her leave the temple of Aphrodite in Cairo and notices the new necklace glimmering against her breastplate. He knows it when he watches her hold Sasha close in Rome, protecting her while she herself is defenseless without her armour. He knows it when watching her say goodbye to her brother in Cairo, their arms clasped together and foreheads touching, a sad smile on her lips. He knows it in the beads of sweat rolling down her face in the confined, cramped interior of Cel’s submarine. 

And he knows it when her loud laugh catches his attention, and he looks up from where he has hidden himself away in a corner of the inn, watching where she sits surrounded by kobolds and friends in the next room, smiling again after everything. Coming alive again. And he knows he is not part of the moment, cannot be part of it right now. But he is proud nonetheless.


End file.
